The Demon's Bride
by KaeBug
Summary: A story of romance, tragedy and moments of uncontainable ecstasy. This is the story of a boy, stolen from his home at the hands of a demon forced to be his bride. This is the story of a father and mother losing their child. Yet more so, this is the story of a demon and how he first discovered love. AU will be rated M in future chapters, Contains SebaCiel.


_**AN: **_This is a reboot, a hopefully improved version of a story I attempted to write a good while ago, now here is me bringing it back. I hope I can do it justice and finally be decisive about things, it's getting tiring sitting on the fence.

_narrations are in italicized. _

Here's presenting: '**_The Demon's Bride_**'

**Warnings: **Will be rated M in future for mature content, Main Pairing is SebaCiel in future chapters.

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><p><em><strong>In the beginning,<strong> there were deities. Divine beings capable of manipulating and creating life, and the raw materials of nature from nothing, they were immortals who possessed both great power and knowledge, creators of the many planets within the universe and the laws of nature that ruled them. They were unchallenged in life and lived on an island that drifted amidst the sea of stars and iceberg wisps. They were near perfect beings, most who were content with eternity, yet there were those who weren't who felt its weight as a terrible curse. _

_Yet despite differences in the nature of each individual divinity, there was a defining trait each one shared with another; Deities were unable to reproduce. Simply there was never a need to since no deity has ever died and needed to be replaced, what's more, any that has been birthed into existence has already been so. (There was also the tricky business of how mating amongst divines would work since deities had no definable sex or genitalia to begin with-their forms were always so interchangeable and arbitrary) Even still, the deities felt it upon themselves to create something unlike their wonders before, they felt the need to create life, sentient beings which were capable of drawing breathe and independent thought._

_ In fact, this need became so strong it soon led to the birth of the first living planet in the universe. A small viridian and blue planet that drifted in the ocean just below the deities own floating island; much easier to keep an eye on things when their close by. The gods cast a star by the earth for which to create a constant light and warmth, this subsequently also led to the birth of darkness and shadow and led to a never ending cycle of what we now call day and night, however the night was considered TOO dark which led to the creation of the moon, radiant and soft unlike its daytime counterpart. Of course the finicky deities were not satisfied with such an inefficient source of light so they threw some nearby stars and planets within the earth's proximity hoping it would illuminate the night sky of their little earth._

_It did._

_They were happy._

_And with a few more minor touches and the occasional disagreement and begrudging compromise, the little green planet was soon teeming with life. It was filled with minor and lesser spirits who took form as the fauna and greenery of the land. At First, the deities were satisfied with their creation and enjoyed watching it flourish over time._

_Then the consuming need for life took hold of the gods once again which promptly led to the birth of the first race of divine children, intelligent beings capable of magic like themselves; The Race of Demons was born. Now, having been born in a different universe it isn't uncommon for us to hear the word demon and associate it with malicious, cruel spirits who existed merely to cause havoc and wreak chaos, or maybe you even hear the word demon and instantly think of Faustian contracts with pentagrams and summoning rituals and I wouldn't blame you if that were the case, however these demons do not adhere our stereotype of malevolent, soulless beings._

_ These demons were not inherently evil, nor did they become that way over time, near immortal like their creators they too possessed the ability to manipulate the elements of nature, magic and an innate desire to create and learn. Simply put they were neutral forces of nature, some chaotic and some peaceful. However, because they were not as powerful as their creators, they relied on the living essence of other life forms to replenish themselves and their powers. This meant the dryads and nature spirits of the land, the life essence of lesser sentient beings._

_The Gods were pleased with their newest creation, well, that was until the new race of beings started posing a threat to the natural balance of the viridian world. As the number of demons grew, the fewer the number of nature spirits and thus the living planet's well-being went into a drastic decline. Fearing the ultimate threat of the rising demon population the Deities took away the demons invincibility. _

_The demons accepted this change begrudgingly, leading to the loss of reckless and neglectful demons. And while this change halted the decline of the planets life essence it didn't restore the delicate balance. So the Deities introduced the second race of Children: The Human race. Curious, yet surprisingly adaptable, The Deities were delighted with their youngest creation, the most unique and ambitious of all as they relied on exploiting the land and raw materials for survival, they were significantly weaker than the demons and deities and lacked any sense of innate magical knowledge, but they possessed an ability to learn and invent and were gifted with immortal souls that upon death would be released,naturally This led to the creation of reapers, ascended human spirits who were in charge of releasing other human souls from their mortal binds and into nature, but most importantly of all: The humans were able to naturally reproduce and quickly._

_ This pleased the gods greatly and thus they watched with satisfaction as the humans took the land and restored the balance of the little viridian planet. The humans however, did not find these traits to be such great gifts as the deities believed; instead they found it to be the ingredients of a doomed existence; short lived with many hardships. The humans soon outnumbering the demons in millions, the deities were satisfied and vowed never again to interfere with the lives of their creations. _

_The humans however, lived in fear of the superior demons and were considerably distressed, cursing the deities from afar on their small green rock._

_In the land of England, much long before Vincent was born, his predecessors had lived in constant fear of the demons and the threat they posed to their people. The souls of humans, as the demons discovered, had unique and addictive flavours: anguished, petrified, vengeful, greedy- alluring and hypnotic flavours, so succulent that the intensity began to corrupt the nature and appetite of over-indulgent demons causing them to seek out more and more immortal souls, often disguising and deceiving their prey before 'seasoning' and consuming them. _

_So out of fear for their lives the humans built a great stone wall, running along the length of the country, separating the denser and darker parts of the Forest, where the demons chose to reside, from the human kingdom. It is said that each slate and stone laid was blessed with anti-demonic magic by great elder mages to ward off the demonic threat and that to this day, despite its crumbling and wear, its protective charm still powerful enough to keep even the most fearsome of demons away, and the earth surrounding it so heavily salted that the flora dwelling upon the outskirts had all shrivelled and died. So they stayed within what the humans called the 'Daemon's Forest'; dormant and obscured by the shadows of the rotting coal trees. The stars of the eternal night merely holes within their woven, dead canopy._

_When Vincent was born, his family was overjoyed. Full of whimsy and wit, he was a curious boy that even When he took over his father's title as Earl, they were more than proud of their young Vincent, cunning and handsome, in the land of England there was no man more charming. With eyes as dark as the night, and nothing more alluring a mystery than the smile constant in his eyes or the mischievous note in his voice._

_ When Rachel was born it was as if a single ray of light had been dropped by the divines, her birth was rejoiced despite her fragile health. As she was greatly loved, she knew nothing of hate or even how to. With gold amber hair, lily white skin and dusky blue eyes reminiscent, she was irrefutably beautiful. Something almost every bachelor within a mile's radius was very much aware of._

_It was really no mystery as to why he fell for her. Her beauty was captivating but her sweetness was rivalled only by her demure younger sister whose bashfulness concealed the most of her loveliness; hidden away behind scarlet coloured locks. But whilst Rachel was very much charmed, she was no fool and having already rejected so many dishonest marriage proposals at the tender age of nineteen, it was necessary she make true his intentions._

"Vincent, darling," she said to him, (_as at this point they had already been courting for several years and were very much in love.)_

"You know I love you and that with you, I've never been happier but is there intent as to why you've made me wait so long?" and he smiled at her, knowing very well what she meant for he was no fool either.

_You see, The Lord Durless was not an easy man to please, his stance growing more and more resolute by the years, each passing one shedding more hair and sprouting more stubbornness so of course it was only natural that the man who takes his daughter's hand in marriage should very well earn it. And this is just what Vincent set out to do, for the Lord Durless did not make these tasks easy to accomplish. In exchange for his daughter he wanted a list of extraordinary things, testing truly the creativity and the will of all the young men._

_ He wanted sunlight in exchange for his daughter, he wanted music and sweetness, for how it would ail him to have to lose her from his life, and For his word to remain true and good to his daughter he wanted proof of his love for her, proof that he would risk his life and scour the depths of hell for her. This was enough to repel most average infatuated suitors and rid of the foolhardy men for good, but not so much the likes of Vincent. He agreed all the while wearing a knowing smirk, a plan already hatching in his mind to win her heart and her father's respect._

With this in mind, he kissed her sweetly on her cheek and waved away her worries.

"Do you worry, my love, that I would be cruel to you? Keep our good years to myself and leave you without a husband? Because if you worry for a husband, I only need to point to the line of suitors dying at your door." He took her lovingly in his arms, delighting in the scent of lilies that embraced him. She frowned, a chill in her voice as she tried to distance herself.

"Vincent, I don't care for those men like I do you, and I certainly don't want anyone dying" He laughed, her innocence darkly amusing to him.

"I know, I know, I've kept you waiting and you've been patient but I promise just a little while longer." He reassured as he bent down to plant a kiss. His lips coming to a halt as they brushed soft against dainty fingertips, her frown deepened.

"You said that a three years ago." Blue eyes looked solemnly at her lover as she pulled away from him, his smile falling as she did. He sighed, letting her slip from his embrace as she turned away. She had given him a lot of her years, none she ever regretted spending, but her patience was waning. She didn't want to doubt him, but the more he avoided the subject and waved it away the more she began to wonder if the things her father often said were true. That young men were only after one thing and they'd do whatever they could to get it.

So the next day he left during the dark hours of the morning, when the air was still rolling thick with fog and made his way on horseback east wards towards the never ending wall, Armed with nothing but a blessed silver sterling in his breast pocket.

The air was harsh. Dawn having already approached with the sun crowing from the horizon, it's rays still

Growing more Bitter and suffocating as he neared the wall; the dense barrage of forest growing less and less as his steed's hooves continued to beat against the floor, the sound muffled by the fallen pine needles and fine earth. The layers of mist still lingering and obscuring the better part of his sight. He growled, frustration mounting as he willed for the fog to evaporate and cease, recklessly spurring his horse forward in spite of it.

Cursing, as it instead only seemed to grow the thicker the more he travelled east. His face ruddy from the wind as it whipped and bit, his thick fur cloak warding off the worst of it. He clutched tighter the reigns in his hands, his resolve only hardening with every gust of wind. He only hoped that this journey proved fruitful.

_On the outskirts of the demon's forest, lonely and secluded there stood alone- A strange manor. Shrouded in the Midst of Frosted trees and on the highest bank of The the winding ice brook. A slate stone pathway emerging and trailing through a small earthen garden of iced snowdrops and lilies, each delicate bloom encased and preserved within a thin veil of woven icicles. _

_The manor itself woven from living wild vines and ferns laced with red ivy leaves and white wisteria tendrils. It's walls thick and green, impervious to the bone harrowing chill of the forest air, The glass of the windows made from clear tinted amber stone, the sill spilling with the same blossoms from the garden before it. The roof itself a completely strange feat; layers and layers of thousands of black matted feathers, each single one bone dry and razor sharp. It was undoubtedly an eccentric home, even for a demon such as this one._

Vincent brought his horse to a halt, the wind ceasing to rake through his hair as he slowed his horse, the chill of the forest fog growing. His breathe almost caught in the air as it froze, the sight of the dark stone wall stretching for miles and disappearing into the white both ominous and foreboding, his nerve wavering. He clambered off his horse, his heart beginning to thump as his feet crunched against solid earth, his pulse suddenly quickening. The silence ringing through his ears. He took a breath.

The horse at his side shifting nervously, ears turning and twitching as he stepped forward, his footsteps crunching as the brown earth underneath turned to frost. The horse protesting, yet Vincent did his best to remain unperturbed. His hand coming to hush the antsy beast, resting on its neck he whispered hush and soothing words, his attention never turning from the wall before him. Dark Eyes constantly scanning and skimming between the white trees and dark trunks; huffs of white breath dissolving to the mist; He took another few steps. The protests of the horse beside him shrill and desperate to keep its master close by yet torn between its instinct to run and flee.

Its cries growing more distressed with every step he took, ears backwards and tail between its legs, reaching its neck towards it master yet anxious to not step on the white. Vincent ignored it, already within a few yards of the slate wall, its bone chilling cold almost within his grasp. He sighed and took a breath. The cold of the stone seeping the warmth from his fingertips, deathly and icy to the touch, as if the blood in his fingers had turned to ice, he drew back his hand ripping off his glove. The limb considerably whiter and number than the other, attempting to flex and watch as the tendons stretched and worked under his skin, it was stiff. The warmth was slow to return he discovered as he watched in apt fascination at his discovery. His interest peaked, oblivious to the cries of the stranded horse shrieking for its master. He took one last gander at the landmark.

One comprehending look of the scene before him and finally stepped over the gap or dark fallen stones. The mist from his lungs viciously sucked out of him, leaving him gasping and struggling for breath. Falling to his knees as his fingers and limbs grew ice white and cold, his hand clasped and clutching at his throat, his ears. A nothing less than silence flooding his mind as any memory or semblance of noise from the human world was slapped from his person, his mind began to swim and his voice suddenly lost to the forest. The white of the snow and frost too white for his eyes, it was blinding, forcing him to shut his eyes as he collapsed as a near dead heap upon the floor. The cries of his horse no longer to be heard.

_It had been almost two centuries now since winter had begun and the boughs of the trees still solid and coal black from the cold. The icicles were still growing and forming in thorns in the crystalline waters and the newer demons were still deep in hibernation._

_Well,_

_For the most part._

_He had always been a strange one, choosing to stay awake through the century long winters rather than to forgo it like the rest of his kin._

He moseyed in the lower cellar of his home, the walls crudely carved from the earth like a cave. The walls Lined with the roots of the living vines above, for stability. He was leisurely in his movements, sifting through the various bottles of coloured mists and elixir, Disposing of the oldest and expired, tossing them onto the floor where the bottles shattered, the contents hissing as if their final defiant cry before melting into the earth below or evaporating into the air.

The room was dimly, as if the flames themselves were struggling for breath, causing shadows to dance along the walls whilst the young demon Rummaged through each row of shelves the cabinets and shelves growing concerningly bare as the inspection progressed. Red eyes glowered, grumbling to himself as he cursed the extended winter, realising that soon he would have to venture out again and gather what little he could from the frozen wasteland. The winter had lasted far too long for his liking; The seams of his guise beginning to fray and mist, no longer good to fool even the most simple of humans. His aura was beginning to seep; darkened droplets and tendrils dripping and creeping; darkness trailing with every step.

_He never considered his form to be something of a stunner but he took pride in his guise, working hard to maintain it, divines forbid he ever appear unsightly before an audience should he be summoned. Just as every healthy and responsible demon should (or so he liked to believe.)_

With one last sweeping glance he assessed the cellar, disappointed with what was left on his shelves. The blackened carriage obediently following as he ascended up a flight of slate slabs protruding from the walls in the fashion of a makeshift staircase, the last embers faint glow dying and leaving the room in its original pitch darkness. The walls parting with every step and revealing itself to the surface and admitting the demon.

He moved briskly, scrutinizing the branches for any flicker of green or brown. His irritation beginning to mount as none came into view. The small hairs on his tendrils and spines, usually able to feel the slightest vibration or sign of life, dead and numb in the sterile air, the lack of sensation leaving him feeling blind and lost for directions. His steps beginning to slow to an amble as the cold began to seep into the crevices of his skin.

The never ending white that stretched for miles, undisturbed save for the dark silhouettes shifting with the horizon, like ghostly shadows dancing and drifting amidst the purgatory. Time, losing itself and dwindling into static, seconds slowly stretching into eternities with every delayed inch the demon managed forwards. His body shook, violently trashing, trying to rid himself of the forming icicles in his furs and hairs but to no avail.

The demon had hardly left the clearing near his home and yet, already winter settled within his skin. He heaved a sigh, his breath steaming and evaporating instantaneously as he exhaled. His limbs dragging as he worked against his rigid fur and limbs, continuing to trudge into the white, sheer determination leading him blind into the white.

Then it hit him.

Like electricity, the nerves in the roots of his hairs, trembling with excitement and sensation. The wind changing and a breeze like a whirlwind sent his tendrils on end. If he had a heart it would've skipped a beat. Had he lungs he would be breathless. Then he heard it. The warmth beginning to course through his being as he pinpointed the sensation, the sound of a shrill cry, faint from the distance yet piercing and prominent in the silence of the woods.

He fought against his limbs, Following his ears, his nose, the tiny hairs on the long tapering coils that slithered from his form and broke into speed and raced towards the wall. Excitement taking hold of him as the promise of a life reinvigorated him. He was racing now. Racing towards the Where the coal black trees began to thin out and grow sparse, towards where the border between man and demon stood, unflinchingly bare and undeniable in the open.

Colour beginning to seep past the horizon and into the sky as he drew closer. Maniacal glee and instinctual needs driving him onwards to the wall, to where the agonized scream of a young man resounded as his soul, piece by piece, began to freeze and petrify.

_Like a gift sent from the divines._

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><p><em><strong>End Note:<strong>_ Here's hoping to a finished story one day.


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